


was she hot in high school?

by flowersandsunshine



Series: dodger [2]
Category: Gilmore Girls
Genre: Christmas, F/M, Fluff, i wrote this in one night y'all
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-23
Updated: 2016-12-23
Packaged: 2018-09-11 08:59:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,887
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8973247
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flowersandsunshine/pseuds/flowersandsunshine
Summary: Jess, Rory, Luke, and Lorelai have multiple places to go on Christmas day.





	

Rory rolled over and groaned. She reached out to turn off her alarm clock and sighed in relief at the end of the insistent beeping. She rolled back around and smiled softly. “Hey.”

“Good morning.” Jess smiled back and nudged her arm. “Coffee?”

“God, please.” Rory watched Jess get up and pull on pants before he walked out of the bedroom and into the living area. She waited for a few minutes, letting her mind wander, before getting up and following him out into the kitchen.

He was pulling the percolator off the coffee maker to pour into a mug when she walked in. Jess looked up and smiled at her. “Good timing,” he said. “Here, have some coffee, don’t be grumpy, you know the drill.”

Rory smiled and took the coffee. “God bless you, Jess Mariano,” she said, drinking the coffee and burning her tongue a little. “I love coffee.”

“I know. I’ve been informed many times.” Jess grinned. “By you, by Luke, by your tiny town.”

“Do you ever wonder what if would have been like if you had actually come to Stars Hollow as a teenager, like you were supposed to?” Rory asked, sliding into a chair and leaning on the table. She took another sip of coffee, slower this time. 

“It would have been bad. Really bad. Trust me.” Jess sat across from her and ran his hands through his hair. “Should I cut this? It’s getting really long.”

“Whatever you want, babe,” Rory said, absentminded. 

“If I had moved to Stars Hollow, you would have known stupid Jess, who did stupid things and didn’t actually care for people at all. Also, Liz was actually crazy, which made me worse.” Jess chuckled. “Also, can you imagine stupid Jess living with grumpy ‘I’m not in love with Lorelai’ Luke?” 

“Fair enough.” Rory studied his face for a moment. “But would we have had a, a connection?”

“Uh…” Jess raised his eyebrows and winked. “Were you as hot as you are now?”

Rory rolled her eyes. “No, I had straight hair with no bangs and wore a plaid skirt all the time.”

“Private school kids,” Jess said. “I bet you were hot even in that ridiculous skirt.”

“I was not!” Rory said.

“Yes, you were, I’m sure of it!” Jess said. “Look, I’ll even call your mother and ask her.” He reached across for Rory’s phone.

She snatched it up and held it close to her chest. “No, dude, come on, don’t call my mom. She’ll just agree with you to annoy me and to be weird. And then she’ll ask when we’ll be there and I want to be able to lounge around without guilt for a few more minutes.”

Jess laughed and leaned back against his chair. “You’re not looking forward to today?”

“I just wish I didn’t have to go to a bunch of different parties today, all equally ridiculous in true Stars Hollow slash Paris Geller slash Emily Gilmore fashion.” Rory shrugged and downed the rest of her coffee. “Oh my god,” she said, grimacing, “that was hot. That was hot.”

“Just like you. When you were in high school.” Jess smirked.

“Oh, god.” Rory stood up. “I have to go get ready.”

“Our first Christmas together.” Jess smiled and stood with her. He reached for her and pulled her close.

Rory smiled and settled into his arms. “Can you believe it’s been six months?”

“I can believe,” Jess said. “Six good months.”

“It’s like we were meant to be, right from the beginning.” Rory stood on her toes and kissed him quickly. “Come on, Dodger.” She grinned. “Let’s get ready for the best Christmas ever.”

“The best ever?” Jess asked. He opened his eyes ridiculously wide. “That’s a really big promise. Think you can keep it?”

“You bet your ass I can!” Rory said. She backed away from him and grinned. “Come on. Really.”

“What’s the rush?” Jess asked, following her anyway.

“If we don’t get out of here in the next twenty-five minutes, Luke will be calling to ask where we’re at. And Liz. And Mom. And Grandma. And Paris.”

“You had me at Grandma,” Jess said. He brushed past her and back into the bedroom.

Rory laughed and followed him.

\---

“Alright, first, we pick up Mom and Luke at their place.” Rory held up a list of stops that they were to make that day. “We head over to Luke’s and say hello to Caesar. And then we have to go to the Kim’s, just to make sure we say hi. I got their poinsettia, so Mom didn’t have to.” She waved her hand at the back of the car. “Then we go to Liz and TJ’s, say hello to Doula, give them their presents, eat a little lunch, then we have to whip over to Paris’s house to have a real lunch.”

“I’m not a Gilmore, so is it okay if I don’t eat a colossal amount?” Jess asked.

“And then we have to drive and drive all the way to Grandma’s, because for some reason, she insisted that we were all to go there this year, and while I love Nantucket, it is quite the drive.” Rory smiled at Jess. “Not that I mind. I like driving with you.”

“You mean, you like that I drive and you just sit there and pore over your pro-con lists and detailed notes.” Jess smiled at her.

“Eyes on the road, mister,” Rory chided him. “This is just about the area where a deer ran into my car.”

“Every time we drive here, you bring that up.” Jess sighed.

“And then I was late to my test, because a deer hit the car, and then Max wouldn’t let me retake the test, and then my mother came in and heavily flirted with him—”

“And they got engaged, and Luke made a chuppah, and it was all rosy until suddenly Lorelai freaked out,” Jess continued. “It honestly is a good story. How do you think Max is doing now?”

“I’m sure he’s still teaching,” Rory said. “I hope he’s happily married and teaching a wonderful group of kids who love him.”

“They’re probably not as great as you were. Or as hot.”

“God,” Rory muttered. “Come on.”

They pulled up outside her childhood home and Jess honked the horn a couple of times. 

Lorelai opened the door immediately and beamed at them before rushing down the path, Luke following after a moment. She threw open the door and slid in, making room for her husband. “My wonderful children, here we are together on this most wonderful of days. Christmas present. Nothing can beat this day, because it is not a terrible Christmas in the past, and it is not the Christmas in the future where we’re dead; no, this is Christmas present where we are alive and we are happy. We are happy, yes?”

“Very happy,” Jess said.

“Exceedingly,” Rory said, nodding at Luke. “Hey, Luke.”

“Hey, Rory,” Luke said. “I read your piece in the New Yorker.”

“Super proud!” Lorelai mouthed.

“Oh, good,” Rory said. “Um, we’re gonna hit Luke’s first, okay? We have something for Caesar.”

“Oh, okay, good, gives me a chance to get some coffee.” Lorelai grinned at Luke. “You had coffee already, Lorelai,” she said in a deep voice. “I know,” she said in her regular voice. “But it just isn’t the same as at Luke’s. Of course it is,” she said, switching the voices again, “it’s the same exact coffee I buy for both the diner and the house. But it’s not the same!” she whined.

“Geez,” Luke said. “Can we get moving, please?”

Jess smirked and pulled out of the driveway, driving the short route to Luke’s, Lorelai doing the bit the whole way. “Alright, we have reached the first destination. Rory, how are we doing on time?”

“We have seventeen minutes here, people,” Rory said. “We have to get through every stop today!”

They all piled out of the car and headed inside Luke’s, where Caesar was relaxing. He, Kirk, and Lulu were the only people inside the shop.

“Caesar, did you tell Luke you didn’t want to work on Christmas?” Rory asked him.

“Of course I did, but does he listen? No. And then he said he wanted to work on Christmas, but I told him, I said, ‘I don’t want you working on Christmas! You stay with your family; I stay with mine.’” Caesar motioned to Kirk and Lulu. “They are my very odd family, I guess.”

“I dislike cooking on Christmas,” Kirk said. “Makes the holidays seem somehow tedious. Who would want to cook and clean up on a holiday?”

“I don’t mind doing the cooking and cleaning up,” Lulu said. “But he insists on treating me to the best food in town on the best day of the year.” She grabbed Kirk’s arm and smiled brightly at him. 

Kirk smiled at Luke, who looked annoyed.

“Well, I need coffee!” Lorelai walked behind the counter and grabbed the coffee pot. “Rory, you want some?”

“Yes, please,” Rory said.

“Hey, Lorelai, and others,” Jess said, “was Rory hot in high school?”

“Don’t answer!” Rory said quickly.

“She got hit on by grown men all the time,” Lorelai said. “Actual, human, adult males. They just hit on her, because she was so hot.”

“Even in the plaid skirt?” Jess asked.

“Are you questioning the hotness of my daughter? Your girlfriend?” Lorelai asked.

“No, ma’am,” Jess said. He grinned.

“Because let me tell you, that skirt really showed off her legs. She looked sweet as pie in that skirt.” Lorelai reached over the counter and rubbed Rory’s face. “A cuter, more attractive girl you never did see.”

Rory jerked her face back and shook her head in disgust. “Nobody thought I was cute, I mean, nobody besides Dean.”

“And Tristan? And all those random dudes who hit on you all the time,” Lorelai added.

“Oh, I forgot about Tristan.” Rory sat lost in thought for a moment.

“Coffee?” Lorelai asked.

“Please.” Rory looked over at Jess. “My mom is biased.”

“I’ll just have to ask everybody we see today,” Jess said.

Rory groaned. “I’m gonna need a lot more coffee.”

“For you, Rory? Anything,” Caesar said. “I’ll give you another cup of coffee, no problem.”

“Oh! Caesar, we have a gift for you,” Rory said. 

“How sweet!” Caesar exclaimed. 

“Jess, will you grab it?” Rory asked.

Jess got up and went out to the car.

After they had given Caesar his gift and had said goodbye to him and Kirk and Lulu, they all walked back to the car, Rory and Lorelai clutching coffee cups.

“Smell that sweet aroma,” Lorelai said.

“Sure, so sweet,” Luke said. He rolled his eyes but couldn’t help the smile that spread across his face. 

“Where to next, mighty navigator?” Jess asked.

“The Kims!” Rory exclaimed. “Here we come.”

“I bet Mrs. Kim thought you were a hot high schooler.”

Rory swatted Jess’s arm but couldn’t help the smile that spread across her face.

\---

“Hi, Lane! Hi, Zack! Hi, Mrs. Kim, Mr. Kim,” Rory said, giving Lane a hug. “Merry Christmas.”

“Merry Christmas, Rory. Lorelai. Luke. Jess.” Mrs. Kim nodded at everyone individually. “How is this relationship going? Still appreciate Rory, even though she considers herself to be a funny girl?”

Jess bit the inside of his cheek and just nodded.

“Good. Lane, get the food ready. This year, I made tofurky, since you loved it so much at Thanksgiving.” Mrs. Kim turned and walked into the kitchen.

Lorelai shot Rory a worried look.

“You just have to eat it,” Rory hissed at her. “You have to. She’ll be watching us.”

Zack grinned. “She made me actual turkey because I didn’t pretend around her.”

“Shut up, Zack,” Rory and Lorelai chorused.

“I like tofurky,” Jess said.

Rory’s mouth fell open and she stared at her boyfriend. “Shut up,” she said.

“Tofurky time!” Zack yelled.

“Zack, come help put turkey on the table,” Mrs. Kim’s voice snapped from the kitchen.

“Oh, yeah,” Zack said.

Rory and Lorelai sighed in unison. “Here we go,” Rory said.

\---

“I can’t believe Mrs. Kim actually said I was hot in high school,” Rory said, getting out of the car and shutting the door. “I mean, what? Isn’t that, like, against her religion, or… what?”

“Face it, honey, you were a hot chica in high school,” Lorelai said, linking her arm through her daughter’s. “You were like Jennifer Aniston hot, turning the heads of all the men in Friends, except instead of a cute little waitress skirt, you wore a plaid skirt that showed off those shapely legs.”

“Shapely legs? I’m a weakling. I’ve always been a weakling. The only shapely thing I had in high school was my brain,” Rory protested.

“You took that fencing class!” Lorelai said.

“You know how to fence?” Luke asked. “How did I not know about this?”

“Remember when Paris and I had that huge fight?” Rory asked. “That was during fencing portion.”

“Honestly, I couldn’t keep track of when you and Paris were friends, so, no, I don’t know what you’re talking about, sorry.” Luke knocked on the door and they all waited. “I’m pretty sure you met Liz once when you were in high school, though.”

“Oh my god! What if my mom thought you were hot in high school?” Jess asked.

“No, please don’t,” Rory begged him. “Please.”

“Hey!” Liz exclaimed, throwing open the door. “Come in, come in. Doula is just so excited to see you all! She kept jumping around and yelling stuff about big brother Jess coming to visit, and TJ has been trying to calm her down ever since she began.”

“Hey, Liz,” Luke said, stepping over the threshold, giving his sister a hug. “Nice to see you.”

“Nice to see you, big brother,” Liz said. “Merry Christmas.” She went to give Jess a hug.

He beamed at her. “Merry Christmas, Mom.”

Liz’s eyes widened and filled with tears. “Merry Christmas, son.”

Rory smiled at Jess and took his hand. “You’re calling her mom now?” she whispered to him as Liz led them into the living room.

“I thought I’d try it out.” Jess shrugged. “It’s Christmas.”

Rory rested her head on his shoulder and smiled to herself.

He squeezed her hand and went to give his sister a hug. 

\---

“Oh, Mom, I forgot to ask.” Jess grinned at Rory. “Was Rory hot in high school?”

Liz laughed. “Uh, duh. She was hit on by everyone. She was the queen of hot teenagers. Everyone had a crush on her. Even in that ridiculous private school uniform, she looked fine as hell.”

Rory groaned and covered Doula’s ears. “She doesn’t need to hear this.”

“I’ve heard it all before,” Doula said.

Rory put her head on the table and groaned again.

Jess laughed and rubbed her back. “Might as well accept it, Rory. You were a hot high schooler.”

“Whatever,” Rory said, muffled against the table.

“What a good Christmas,” Lorelai said, grinning at her daughter. “I love you all.” She raised her glass of wine. “To family.”

They all raised their glasses. “To family,” they chorused.

\---

“Now, if anyone is going to be honest about the question of the day, it’s Paris,” Jess said as they got out of the car at Paris’s house.

“Oh, god, I don’t want to know if Paris thought I was hot or not!” Rory protested. “Come on, this is just supposed to be a day of love and warmth and family and joy and giving, not a day of how-hot-was-Rory-in-high-school.”

Luke leaned over to whisper to Lorelai, “Your daughter is going to go a little crazy dating him.”

“Well, you know. The men in your family. They live to drive Gilmore girls crazy.” Lorelai winked at Luke before walking ahead to ring Paris’s doorbell. 

Paris opened the door and smiled. “Gilmores. Danes.”

“I’m a Mariano,” Jess said.

“I read the article Rory wrote, so I am well aware of your name, but you are also Luke’s nephew, so to me, you are a Dane.” Paris stood to the side. “Please, come in.”

“No, wait, before we do, we have to ask,” Luke said. “I just want to get it out of the way before we do anything else, because seriously, this has become a whole big thing, and—”

“Just ask the question,” Paris said.

“No-nonsense as always,” Luke muttered. “Was Rory hot in high school?”

“As in, sexually enticing?” Paris asked.

“Not how I’d put it,” Luke said, taken aback.

“That’s exactly how I’d put it,” Lorelai said, her grin getting bigger.

“God,” Rory muttered.

“I would have to say yes,” Paris said.

“At least think about it for a minute!” Rory protested.

“No, I don’t need to think about it. Rory was perhaps the most innocent version of the word hot that I’ve ever seen, but she was extremely attractive and people seemed to be quick to fall in love with her.” Paris considered something for a moment. “In fact, Lane made a comment a while ago about how Rory and I had sexual tension, and I realized that she wasn’t entirely wrong.”

“Oh, my god,” Rory said.

“Please, come in!” Paris said. “Dinner is served.” She reached out as Rory passed her and grabbed one of her hands. “Still friends?”

“Always,” Rory said. “Although, I’m a little weirded out that you think you and I had sexual tension.”

“Rory. Please. I think you and I have grown enough to admit we were attracted to each other.” Paris grinned. “Give me a hug.”

“I’m not sure I want to,” Rory said.

Paris reached out and gave her a hug anyway.

Jess grinned at her and took Rory’s hand when Paris let her go. “Let’s go eat lunch!”

“Food!” Rory exclaimed. “The best part of any holiday!”

Paris cleared her throat.

“And the stellar company, of course,” Rory added.

Paris smiled and slung her arm around Rory’s shoulder. “Of course.”

\---

“Alright. The crème de la crème. The ultimate challenge. The big finale. My mother.” Lorelai looked up at the front door of her mother’s new house. “Do we want to take bets on how long it’ll take before we start yelling at each other?”

“Nope,” Luke said, walking past her to ring the bell.

“What!” Lorelai gasped. “You did not just diminish my standing in front of the door time.”

“I’m tired of just standing here, waiting for you to get the guts to ring the doorbell.”

“Luke,” Lorelai whined, “you know how difficult my mother is.”

“I have known for years, thank you,” Luke said. 

The door opened and Emily Gilmore beamed at the four of them. “Merry Christmas!” she exclaimed.

Lorelai raised her eyebrows. “Mom,” she said. “Merry Christmas!”

Emily reached out and hugged Lorelai. “It is very good to see you,” she said. “You must come visit me more often. I thought you were going to spend a week out here this Christmas.”

“Uh, um,” Lorelai stammered, “well, you know, work, and taking days off, and the diner.”

“Of course.” Emily reached over to take Luke’s hand. “Lovely to see you again. Rory! Jess!” She hugged Rory and smiled at Jess. “Merry Christmas to you all. Come in, come in. Dinner is waiting, and it looks delicious.”

“Is that my mother?” Lorelai whispered to Rory as they walked back to the living room.

“She’s very perky,” Rory said. “Maybe that’s a good thing.”

“I don’t trust it,” Lorelai said. “Maybe she’s planning to cook us up in her stew.”

“Grandma’s not a witch, Mom,” Rory said. She grinned. “She’s Grandma.”

Lorelai took a deep breath and took Luke’s hand. “Let’s go.”

“Let’s go,” Luke repeated, walking with her toward the couch.

Jess and Rory sat down on the other couch.

“Does anyone want any drinks?” Emily asked.

Rory smiled at Lorelai sadly.

“I’ll get them, Mom,” Lorelai said. “You just sit down, relax.”

“Oh.” Emily smiled slightly. “Thank you, Lorelai. I appreciate it.”

“Of course.” Lorelai stood up. “Drinks, everyone?”

\---

“I remember your father once told me that if I didn’t read Narnia, I couldn’t really understand the meaning of Christmas,” Emily said.

Everyone was laughing, and Rory wiped a tear from her eye through the laughter. “Seriously, Grandma? What did you do?”

“Well, I read Narnia, of course!” Emily said. “But I accidentally read ‘The Magician’s Nephew’, and I don’t know if you know this, but that book isn’t even the book with Christmas in it, so I marched up to him after I finished it, and I said, ‘Richard, what are you doing telling me to read this book so I truly understand Christmas? This is more of a completely obvious retelling of the Christian creation story’!”

“What’d he say, Mom?” Lorelai asked.

“Well.” Emily smiled at all of them. “He looked at the book and said, ‘What the devil are you doing with this?’ and I said, ‘You told me to read it!’ and he just laughed and laughed, and I think that was one of the happiest moments I’ve ever had with your father. He just threw back his head, and he laughed, just because I read the wrong book.”

“And you weren’t upset with him at all?” Lorelai asked.

“Oh, no, of course not, Lorelai. I saw the humor in it, and I laughed right along with him. It was just…. Such a happy moment.” Emily walked over to Richard’s painting and touched it for a second.

Everyone was pensive.

“I loved him so much.”

“We all did, Mom.” Lorelai stood up and placed her hand on Emily’s shoulder.

Emily smiled at her. “Yes. I know.”

Rory gripped Jess’s hand tighter.

Jess smiled down at her and slightly bumped her with his shoulder. “A toast,” he said. “To the Gilmores, who, if we had never met them, our lives would be much worse.”

“Hear, hear,” Emily said.

They all raised their glasses and toasted.

“A toast,” Emily said, quieter. “To family.”

“To family,” Lorelai repeated, raising her glass. 

They all drank together and looked around at the faces of those they loved.

“Merry Christmas, everyone,” Rory finally said quietly.

“And to all a good night!” Lorelai shouted.

Emily gave her a look.

“Sorry,” Lorelai said, softer. She looked at Rory with mischievous eyes.

Rory giggled.

Emily bit her lip and shook her head. “I swear, you girls will teach me to laugh more than I ever have before.”

“Good.” Lorelai smiled. “Good.”

“Merry Christmas,” Luke said.

“Merry Christmas.”

\---

“Best Christmas ever?” Rory asked softly. She ran her fingers through Jess’s hair before letting her hands settle at his waist.

He smiled. “Not yet.” Leaning down, he captured her lips with his own. For a few minutes, there was nothing but breath, and hands, and heat.

Rory pulled away after a few minutes. “Hey,” she said. “Let’s go into the bedroom.”

Jess took her hand and led her into the room.

\---

“Merry Christmas,” Rory whispered.

Jess brushed her hair away from her face. “Merry Christmas.”

“I love you.”

“I love you.”

Rory smiled and shut her eyes, feeling an overwhelming sense of peace fill her chest and flow through her body.

“We didn’t ask your grandma if she thought you were hot,” Jess said.

“Oh, my god!”

**Author's Note:**

> um all mistakes are mine and i didnt edit it at all, ya know  
> come visit me at of-flowers-and-sunshine.tumblr.com !!!!  
> ok love y'all


End file.
